A review by katrinarose
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Shafak does such an a wonderful job of setting the scene in Istanbul and the other various settings in Turkey. Her way of bringing a character to life in just a chapter is amazing, and I felt so much for Leila that I became sadder each chapter knowing that she had died. The character study and friendship development is definitely the most important and impactful part of this book, not the plot. It’s a beautiful and tragic story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail